Assume you are tasked with creating a new professional sport equal to the Big 4 of today with 32 teams. Where would you put them?

I used every city with 2+ Big 4 teams. I divided into 4 conferences of 8 teams. The playoffs would be a straight seeded #1-16 with the division winners getting autobids to the playoffs.

Eastern Conference: Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Washington
Northern Conference: Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Louis
Southern Conference: Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Tampa
Western Conference: Denver, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Seattle

What would you do? Would you go after lesser-utilized markets? Or something else?

If I did a 4x2x4, I'd still have a Straight 16 playoff with autobids to 8 division champions with 8 at-large spots.

Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division: Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington
Northeast Division: Boston, Buffalo, New York, Toronto

Northern Conference
Central Division: Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Louis
Midwest Division: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis

Southern Conference
Metropolitan Division: Dallas, Houston, Nashville, New Orleans
Southeast Division: Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Tampa

Western Conference
Pacific Division: Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle
Southwest Division: Denver, Kansas City, Phoenix, Salt Lake City

Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division: Brooklyn, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
Northeast Division: Buffalo, Montreal, New England (Boston), Toronto
Southeast Division: Baltimore, Florida (Miami), Tampa Bay, Washington
Central Division: Carolina (Charlotte), Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis

Western Conference
Midwest Division: Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minnesota
Southwest Division: Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Tennessee (Nashville)
Northwest Division: Colorado, Portland, Seattle, Utah
Pacific Division: Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco

(07-22-2025 03:43 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division: Brooklyn, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
Northeast Division: Buffalo, Montreal, New England (Boston), Toronto
Southeast Division: Baltimore, Florida (Miami), Tampa Bay, Washington
Central Division: Carolina (Charlotte), Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis

Western Conference
Midwest Division: Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minnesota
Southwest Division: Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Tennessee (Nashville)
Northwest Division: Colorado, Portland, Seattle, Utah
Pacific Division: Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco

I chose to use city names but I believe names like Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and Minnesota may be preferred by the people there.

What was your criteria which included the cities I didn't:
- Brooklyn
- Montreal
- Portland
- San Antonio
- San Diego

(07-22-2025 04:34 PM)BePcr07 Wrote:  What was your criteria which included the cities I didn't:
- Brooklyn
- Montreal
- Portland
- San Antonio
- San Diego

Personal preference. Also, Brooklyn is part of New York City.

A slight variant in which I replace Montreal with Atlanta:

Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division: Brooklyn, New England (Boston), New York, Philadelphia
Northeast Division: Baltimore, Buffalo, Toronto, Washington
Southeast Division: Atlanta, Carolina (Charlotte), Florida (Miami), Tampa Bay
Central Division: Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh

Western Conference
Midwest Division: Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minnesota
Southwest Division: Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Tennessee (Nashville)
Northwest Division: Colorado, Portland, Seattle, Utah
Pacific Division: Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco

Now, suppose this new league had 36 teams instead of 32. Here's my alignment for that:

Eastern Conference
Northeast Division: Brooklyn, Montreal, New England (Boston), New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
Southeast Division: Atlanta, Baltimore, Carolina (Charlotte), Florida (Miami), Tampa Bay, Washington
Central Division: Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Toronto

Western Conference
Midwest Division: Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minnesota, St. Louis, Tennessee (Nashville)
Southwest Division: Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, San Antonio, Utah
Pacific Division: California (Los Angeles), Los Angeles, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle

I only included NY and LA with two teams. Chicago will soon be passed by DFW in metro population and isn't as geographically divided as NY and LA. Parentheses are their MSA population rank.

East
Northeast New York (1), Brooklyn (1), Boston (11), Philadelphia (9)
North Washington (7), Baltimore (22), Toronto (1 Canada-would be 10 US), Montreal (2 Canada-would be 15 US not counting Toronto)
Central Cincinnati (30 but would be 19 with Dayton included), Pittsburg (28), Cleveland (34 but 22 with Akron), Charlotte (21)
Southeast Atlanta (8), Orlando (20), Tampa (17), Miami (6)

West
Midwest Minneapolis (16), Chicago (3), Detroit (14), St. Louis (23)
Plains Houston (5), Dallas (4), San Antonio (24), Denver (19)
Southwest LA (2), Anaheim (2), San Diego (18), Phoenix (10)
Northwest San Francisco (13), Portland (15), Seattle (26), Vancouver (3 Canada but would be 25 US)

Large metros left out:
12 Riverside-really an extension of LA. Already had 3 teams in Southern California including one in Anaheim.
25 Austin-only 80 miles to San Antonio. Will probably be bigger than San Antonio in 15 years, but the Texas Longhorns are their pro team.
27 Sacramento-only 85 miles to San Francisco.
29 Las Vegas-nothing outside Las Vegas but desert
31 Kansas City, 32 Columbus, 33 Indianapolis, 35 Nashville left out for Cleveland (34) which is much bigger with Akron which is only 37 miles away.
36 San Jose-see Cleveland and it really is an extension of San Francisco.

If I add 4 more, its probably Sacramento, Kansas City, Indianapolis and Nashville. They add more geographic diversity than Austin and Columbus.

That 36 team lineup
East
Northeast New York (1), Brooklyn (1), Boston (11), Philadelphia (9), Toronto (1 Canada-would be 10 US), Montreal (2 Canada-would be 15 US)
Central Washington (7), Baltimore (22), Cincinnati (30-19 with Dayton included), Pittsburg (28), Cleveland (34-22 with Akron), Indianapolis (33)
Southeast Charlotte (21), Atlanta (8), Orlando (20), Tampa (17), Miami (6), Nashville (35)

West
Midwest Minneapolis (16), Chicago (3), Detroit (14), St. Louis (23), Denver (19), Kansas City (31)
Southwest Anaheim (2), San Diego (18), Phoenix (10), Houston (5), Dallas (4), San Antonio (24),
Northwest San Francisco (13), Portland (15), Seattle (26), Vancouver (3 Canada but would be 25 US), Sacramento (27), LA (2)

Since we've done 32 and 36, the next logical step is 40!

Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division: Brooklyn, New England (Boston), New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
Northeast Division: Baltimore, Buffalo, Montreal, Toronto, Washington
Southeast Division: Atlanta, Carolina (Charlotte), Florida (Miami), Orlando, Tampa Bay
Central Division: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Tennessee (Nashville)

Western Conference
Midwest Division: Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minnesota, St. Louis
Southwest Division: Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Antonio
Northwest Division: Colorado, Portland, Seattle, Utah, Vancouver
Pacific Division: California (Los Angeles), Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco

For an unconventional variant, here is a conferenceless setup with five 8-team divisions instead:

Northeast Division: Brooklyn, Buffalo, Montreal, New England (Boston), New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Toronto
Southeast Division: Atlanta, Baltimore, Carolina (Charlotte), Florida (Miami), Orlando, Tampa Bay, Tennessee (Nashville), Washington
Midwest Division: Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minnesota, St. Louis
Southwest Division: Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Antonio, Utah
Pacific Division: California (Los Angeles), Los Angeles, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver

It works decently well, though I'd have preferred if KC could have been with the Midwest teams rather than the Southwest ones.

Looking at things region by region:

West—the obvious places to go are LA, San Francisco (or other Bay Area city), Seattle, Phoenix, Denver
Your tier 2 options are SLC, San Diego, Portland, and Sacramento
I’ll leave out Sacramento. I really don’t care for LV as a pro sports market. It’s a small market and a city of transplants. I don’t like the idea of a franchise that relies on visitor fans to survive.

South: Dallas, Houston, Orlando, Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville
That’s 7 solid ones. Orlando vs Tampa and Charlotte vs Raleigh are really a matter of a coin flip. Those markets are a little too close to support teams in both unless there is a huge regional demand. Something like lacrosse could probably support 2 NC teams since it’s popular there.
For the last spot, after considering New Orleans, Memphis, OKC, and San Antonio, I pick San Antonio.

Northeast: your musts are NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, DC, and I’ll throw in Toronto for the Canadian markets.
Beyond that we’re looking at Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo. You could also do another NYC/NJ team but I’m not really a fan of doubling up markets.
I’m going to pass on Buffalo and go with an unconventional option—Hartford. They are a forgotten market wedged between Boston and NYC that’s been neglected since the Whalers left.

Midwest: Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, St Louis, but from there you have to turn to some of the smaller markets like Milwaukee, KC, and Indianapolis. For my final team, I’ll go with Columbus. Most would probably opt to double up on Ohio and take Cincinnati & Cleveland but Columbus is a thriving market that deserves consideration.

This might be helpful. For the US, I excluded any Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) that is part of a Combined Statistical Area (CSA). This is why, for instance, Baltimore and Washington are grouped together. And I've interfiled the Canadian Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) by population. The list is uninterrupted down to Hamilton, Ontario, which houses a CFL team, and then I jumped ahead to include Green Bay (NFL) and Regina (CFL). This uses the official 7/1/2024 population estimates from the US Census and Statistics Canada.

Similar to the above, but not factoring in US Combined Statistical Areas (CSAs). Just US MSAs and Canadian CMAs. As you can see, Baltimore and Washington are listed separately as their own MSAs.